Rural health care services outreach grant program - NC field will collaborate with consortium partners campbell university community care clinic, NC medassist, trillium health resources, kinston…

Rural health care services outreach grant program - NC field will collaborate with consortium partners campbell university community care clinic, NC medassist, trillium health resources, kinston community health center, and duplin county health clinic to address the health-related needs of migrant farm workers in rural communities of north carolina by increasing their access to health care. Migrant farmworkers in rural north carolina face multiple barriers to accessing physical and mental health care, including: language and cultural barriers; lack of transportation; limited health literacy; inability to access care outside of traditional clinic hours; and a digital divide that limits their using telehealth services. Agricultural labor is one of the most injury-prone of all occupations. Combined, these factors result in the life expectancy for migrant farmworkers being only 49 years, as compared with 77.5 for the general U.S. Population. This project will reduce migrant farmworkers' barriers to accessing health care in nine rural and four partially rural north carolina counties. Consortium partners will increase the accessibility of physical and mental health care services for migrant farm workers in these areas by expanding the capacity of community health workers, scaling health care services provision using mobile health units, providing supports to improve their social determinants of health, deepening services focused on chronic disease management, workplace safety, mental health and substance use disorders, and piloting telehealth access points. NC field and the consortium partners have the following goals in this project: 1. Expand access: enhance access to physical and mental health care for rural migrant farmworkers in rural eastern north carolina. 2. Improve social determinants of health: reduce barriers to health care and good health such as lack of transportation, digital access, and health literacy. 3. Empowerment: equip community health workers to CO-create sustainable health care solutions through utilization of the assets based community development model. 4. Improve health outcomes: build a foundation for long-term health care access and better outcomes regarding chronic disease management, workplace safety, mental health, and substance use disorders. The evidence-based models to be employed are the community health worker model, the mobile health model, the social determinants of health-driven care model, the asset-based community development model, and the screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment model. Expected outcomes of this project targeting rural migrant farmworkers will be that their health care access and health knowledge are improved; immunizations will reduce the spread of communicable diseases; mental health and SUD screenings will enable their treatment; diabetes and hypertension rates will be reduced; work-related illnesses and injuries will be reduced; and government policy will be updated to improve rural health care access. NC field has served north carolina's rural migrant farmworker population for 15 years, with its 16 staff and 46 volunteers all having direct lived experience as members of this community. NC field qualifies for the health professional shortage area funding preference because NC field is located in a hrsa-designated health professional shortage area. NC field qualifies for the medically underserved population funding preference because NC field serves a medically underserved population located in a hrsa-designated medically underserved area. NC field qualifies for the focus on primary care, and wellness and prevention strategies funding preference because through this project, NC field and consortium partners will support the primary care and wellness of rural eastern north carolinians.